“Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified.” - Romans 15:6-7 NLT
Prayer is the most important and powerful thing we can do for international students. Here are some suggestions for each day of the week to pray for students from an African background.
Monday – Pray that African students who know Christ and have a Christian background would allow Christ to live his life out through them each day on campus. 1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT – “God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom.”
Tuesday – Pray that African students who are not believers would meet and become friends with true believers in Christ on campus who would love them unconditionally during the course of their degree studies. Galatians 3:8 NLT – “What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’”
Wednesday – Pray that African students would seek fellowship in solid Christian campus groups who would help them come to Christ and to grow up into him. 1 John 1:7 NLT – “But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”
Thursday - Pray that African students who know Christ would join good churches and develop Christian community while studying here. Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT – “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.”
Friday - Pray that African students would model godly character while on campus. 1 Peter 2:12 NLT - “Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world.”
Saturday - Pray that African students who know Christ personally would grow and mature in their faith while here studying. Ephesians 1:16-17 NLT – “I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.”
Sunday - Pray that African students who are not believers would humble themselves and respond to the Spirit’s call. Romans 5:17 NLT – “The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God's wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
Principles cited in this blog: Prayer is the most important and powerful thing we can do for African students.
Application for ISI ministry: The key to changed lives is asking the Holy Spirit to do it in Jesus’ name.
Next blog topic: How to specifically pray for European students
Doug Shaw with Derrah Jackson